


Old Enough

by Jellybean96



Series: What Might Have Been [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Emotional Hurt, Family, Gen, Lucas meets his father
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-17
Updated: 2015-10-17
Packaged: 2018-04-26 20:03:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5018536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jellybean96/pseuds/Jellybean96
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skye decides Lucas is old enough to meet the man who never got to be a part of his life; his father.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Old Enough

**Author's Note:**

> Hey babes! Here's the second piece to this series. Hope you enjoy!

“Lucas!” Skye calls through the medium sized house she shares with her son. “Let’s go!” She stands in the living room, pulling her boots on and making sure she has everything she needs in her bag.  
A minute later, Lucas emerges from the back hallway of the apartment, his backpack hanging off of one shoulder. “Relax mom.”

“Sorry, baby. But I have a meeting with FitzSimmons today about some new mission equipment. We’re going to be doing some test runs and I cannot be late. So you’re going to be hanging out with your Uncle Phil while I’m doing that.”

Lucas smiles, “Sweet. Uncle Phil always has the best stories about missions.”

“What about my stories about missions?” Skye asks, looking mock offended.

Lucas smiles at his mom, “Your stories are really good too, mom.”

Skye smiles, “Good to know. Now come on. We need to get going if we want to get there on time.” She grabs her keys and then opens the front door, allowing her son to step out first. She steps out behind him and then closes the front door behind her, making sure to lock it. 

* * *

 

When they reach Coulson’s office at the Hub, Skye knocks on the closed door before opening it and stepping inside.

“Skye,” Coulson smiles when he sees her enter his office.

“Hey A.C.,” she replies with a smile.

Lucas steps into the office behind his mother. “Hey Uncle Phil,” he says happily.

“Hey Lucas,” Coulson says, walking over and giving the boy a hug. “Happy Birthday.”

“Thanks Uncle Phil,” Lucas smiles.

“So, what are you guys doing here?” Coulson asks. “Not that I don’t enjoy seeing the both of you.”

“I’m hanging out with you today while mom does some stuff with FitzSimmons,” Lucas tells his Uncle, tossing his backpack down on the couch in the office.

“Is that today?” Coulson asks, looking up at Skye.

“Did you forget?” Skye asks him. “It’s okay. I’m sure you’re busy, we can find somewhere else for Lucas to go.”

“You know I can just stay at home by myself, right?”

“I know you can, baby,” Skye says. “But we have somewhere to be after my meeting. Somewhere important. And I don’t want to have to go back home and get you because it’d be out of the way.”

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll find out later. But for right now, I have to go to my meeting, which means we need to find somewhere for you to hang out.”

“He’s fine here,” Coulson says.

“Are you sure?” Skye asks. “You’ve probably got a lot going on.”

“Skye,” Coulson says, placing a hand on her shoulder. “He’s fine here with me. Really, I don’t mind.”

“Alright then, I’ll be back in a couple of hours to get him. Thank you so much. Bye Lucas.” Skye lifts herself onto her toes and gives her son a quick kiss on the cheek before exiting the room.

“Now then,” Coulson says, turning to Lucas, “we’ve got some to kill before your mother gets back. It’s your birthday, what do you want to do first?”

* * *

 

A couple of hours later, when Skye is done with her meeting with FitzSimmons, she heads back up to Coulson’s office. When she gets there, she opens the door and walks in to find her son passed out on the couch in the corner of Coulson’s office.

“What’d you do to my son, Phil? Sedate him?” she chuckles.

“No. I just exhausted him. First he wanted to go down to the labs and check out the computer systems, see if he could get past the server; he didn’t by the way.”

Skye smirks, “He may be good, but he’ll never be as good as me.”

Phil smiles. “After that he wanted to go and spar with some of the Agents down in the gym. You know, try out some of the moves he just learned. He’s been asleep for about an hour now.”

She glances down at her son, “He looks so adorable when he’s asleep. Reminds me of when he was a baby.” She reaches down, gently smoothing some of his dark hair out of his face. “I can’t believe he’s 18 already. The years just seemed to fly by.”

“Yeah, they did. And you did great with him these last 18 years, Skye. He’s grown into a great young man.”

“Thanks.” Skye smiles down at her son, “I really hate to wake him up, but we have to go if we’re going to make it on time.”

“Where are you taking him?” Skye just gives him a look. “Oh,” he nods his head. “So you’ve finally decided to take him?”

“Yeah. I figure he’s old enough now to go.” She turns back to her son and bends down, shaking his shoulder slightly, “Lucas, wake up, baby.”

Lucas stirs in his sleep and then slowly opens his eyes. “Hey mom,” he says when he sees her.

“Hey baby. You ready to go?”

“Yeah,” he sits up on the couch, “just let me grab my bag.” He stands up and grabs his backpack from one corner of the room. “Bye Uncle Phil,” he hugs the older man. “Thanks for today.”

“Anytime bud,” Phil smiles. “Happy Birthday.”

“Thanks,” Lucas smiles at him.

“Alright,” Skye says to Lucas. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yep.”

“Let’s go then,” she says as they walk out the door, “Bye Coulson. See you later.”

* * *

 

“So mom, where are we going?” Lucas asks as they walk out the main doors of the Hub. “You said you’d tell me later, and it’s later. So where are we going?”

“We are going to a place that I’m sure you’ve wanted to go to for a few years now.”

“Think you can give me a hint? There are a few places I want to go.”

“Well, because you’re 18 today, you’re finally old enough to go all the way inside by yourself.”

“Narrowing it down…” Lucas says, slowly nodding his head while thinking.

“Somebody is there. Somebody you’ve never met.”

Lucas’ eyes go wide when he puts the pieces together. He stops and turns to look at his mom, reaching out to lay a hand on her arm, “Wait. Are we going to see dad?”

“ _You_ are going to see your father. I’m just taking you there.” Skye unlocks the car remotely as she and Lucas begin walking towards it again.

“Aren’t you going to come inside with me?” Lucas asks and then climbs into the car, tossing his backpack into the backseat.

“No,” Skye says bluntly as she climbs into the car. “I’m just going into the lobby. This is something you need to do by yourself.” She starts the engine and backs the car out of her parking space.

“Don’t you want to see him?”

“No. I don’t.”

“Mom,” Lucas turns slightly to face her, “it’s been 18 years. Hasn’t it been long enough?”

“This isn’t up for discussion, Lucas. I’m not going inside with you.”

“Fine. But I can’t wait to finally meet dad,” he turns back to the front, a smile on his face. “This is such a great birthday present. Probably the best one yet. I mean, the laptop you got me a couple years ago was pretty cool, but this tops it all.”

“Lucas, I need you to listen me. Really listen. I know you’re excited to meet your father, but I don’t want you to get your expectations up too high, okay? Yes it’s been a long time, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t the same man he was back then. I don’t want you to be upset or disappointed when he can’t live up to what you want him to be.”

Lucas sighs, “Mom, stop. Please. I’ll be fine. I may not be super strong or tough, or whatever it is that Ops people are, but Aunt Mel has made sure I can defend myself. If he tries anything, I can protect myself.”

Skye pulls into the parking lot at the facility where all of the captured HYDRA operatives are being held; it’s not far from the main SHIELD base. Shutting off the engine she turns to face Lucas, “I know you can, baby, but he’s far better than you at hand to hand combat. Almost as good as your Aunt Mel. I’m just worried about you, that’s all.”

“I know you’re worried mom, I can tell. Uncle Phil was right when he said you wear your heart on your sleeve. And your face,” he smiles and Skye chuckles. Lucas places his hand on top of one of his mom’s hands, “I promise you if things take a turn for the worse, I’ll yell out to the guards for help. Okay?”

Skye smiles and places her other hand on Lucas’ cheek, “You’ve grown up so fast.” She has a tear in her eye. “I just want you to stay my little baby boy forever.”

Lucas smiles, “I know you do, mom. Now come on. Let’s go inside so I can face the man who helped make me.”

Skye sighs, “I almost forgot where we were. But I guess I can’t hold it off much longer.” She wipes at her eyes to keep the tears back, “Alright. Time for you to go and meet your father.”

* * *

 

Ward is out in the open grounds with a few other inmates, just milling around, when he hears someone call his name. He turns around to see one of the prison guards standing in the doorway to the prison block.

“You have a visitor,” the guard informs him.

Furrowing his brow, because he pretty much never gets visitors, Ward walks forward and steps back into the prison block. The guard is following closely behind him, walking with him to the visiting center.

Stepping inside the room, Ward sees no one else inside, except for a teenage boy sitting at a table in the center of the room. He has short, dark black hair, dark brown eyes, and tan skin.

Ward steps forward and makes his way towards the table. He stops right in front of the table and slowly sits down, eyeing the boy. Ward stays silent, waiting for the boy to speak first.

“Hello,” the boy says.

“Hi,” Ward says back with a somewhat raspy voice.

“Are you Grant Ward?”

Ward nods his head, “I am. And you are?”

“I’m Lucas Ward. I’m your son.”

Ward’s breath catches, “Lucas Ward? You have my last name.”

The boy nods his head, “Yeah. Since mom doesn’t have one, she gave me yours. She’s never told me why, though. She doesn’t have the best opinion of you, so I don’t know why she gave me your last name.”

Ward doesn’t say anything, just continues to stare in amazement at the young man sitting in front of him.

Lucas shifts uncomfortably in his seat, “Um, are you just going to sit here and stare at me?”

Ward shakes his head, “I’m sorry. It’s just, you’ve grown up so much since the last time I last saw you.”

“Wait, you’ve seen me before? From the way mom talks, this is the first time you and I have ever met.”

“I met you once before, just once. When you were only three months old. How old are you now?”

“18. Today is my birthday.”

“Wow,” Ward breathes out. “Well, happy birthday.”

“Thanks,” Lucas gives him a tight-lipped smile. Things are quiet between the two of them for a moment. Ward just stares at the boy in front of him, seeing so much of Skye in him, with only hints of himself. “So, what happened?” Lucas questions after a beat of silence.

“What?”

“The last time you saw me,” he clarifies. “What happened?”

“Your mom brought you here to the prison, to my cell. She let me hold you, which kind of surprised me, because as far as I knew, she hated me and wanted nothing to do with me. So I didn’t really understand why she would let me hold you. I’m just thankful she did. I only held you for a few minutes before you started fussing. Then she took you back, calmed you down, said a few choice things to me, and then she left. And I never saw either of you again.” He takes notice of the slight scowl on his sons’ face. “But please don’t blame your mom for any of that. She was just trying to protect you.”

“By keeping me away from you? You’re my dad.”

“I am not a good man, Lucas. I’m sure she’s told you so plenty of times over the years. I have done many things in my life I am not proud of.”

Lucas just looks at the man sitting in front of him, “Mom told me the stories of what you did. But she never told me about the really horrible things, I had to dig deep into the archives and ask some of the older agents to find out those things. I just have one question for you. Why? Why did you do all of those horrible things?”

Ward sighs and looks down, “I was at a low point in my life. I was a teenager and very easily impressionable. I did something I’m still not proud of and ended up in juvie. A man came to me and offered me a way out. A way that would make me into a man, so I would no longer be weak and let people push me around. But what I didn’t realize at the time was that he just took me out of one hell, and put me straight into another. He manipulated a young, vulnerable teenager to do his bidding. And I did everything he asked me to do without question. Because I felt like I owed him everything for getting me out of my previous situation.”

“Why didn’t you get out when you realized?”

“That’s the thing. There was no way out. Not really. Once you’re in, you’re in. Plus, I was told not to trust anyone.”

“So what did you do?”

“I did what I was supposed to do. I went deep undercover, as deep into SHIELD as I could get. I became a Specialist, doing what I needed to do until it was time for HYDRA to rise again. When I was assigned to Coulson’s team, I was told to gain their trust. So that’s what I did. I gained their trust. The only thing I wasn’t counting on was one amazing, beautiful woman. She was the unseen variable, the one I never expected, and I fell for her. Hard.”

“Mom,” Lucas states.

Ward nods his head, “Yeah. I fell completely head over heels for her, but I couldn’t let myself get too close. Because I didn’t want her to get hurt or caught in the middle of everything I was doing. It wasn’t until she was on the brink of death when I realized how much I really cared about her. Luckily she survived, but I kept on trying to fight my feelings for her, because I knew that if the man I was working for in HYDRA found out about how I truly felt about her, he’d find some way to use her against me.”

“Did he ever find out about how you felt about mom?”

“I think he put the pieces together eventually.”

“When did SHIELD find out you were HYDRA?”

“It was actually your mom who figured it out and told everyone else.”

“Really? She never said that.”

“Of course she wouldn’t, it was a pretty dark time for everyone. But yeah, she figured it out. It was actually the day we conceived you. Afterwards, she found something that made her realize who I really was.”

“Wow. And then she just turned you in?”

“Not right away. She waited until we were somewhere public. Then she sent an anonymous tip to the cops. They arrested me, sedating me first, and took me away. I’ve been locked up here every day since.”

“Whoa. You’ve been in this place for 18 years?” Ward nods. “Are you ever going to get out?”

Ward sighs and looks down, “As far as I know, I have a life sentence. I’ll be in here until the day I die.”

“Haven’t you done enough time, though?”

Ward shakes his head, “No, I haven’t. No matter how long they keep me in here, nothing can redeem me for everything I have done. And I have done a lot of really awful things.”

“But you’re my dad,” Lucas tells him, feeling tears building up in his eyes. “I don’t want to see you locked up here anymore.”

“I know it’s tough, Lucas, but this is what’s best. For me and for everyone else. Especially your mom.”

“You may think that, but you don’t know how far from the truth that really is,” Lucas tells him. “It would have been better if you were with mom all these years. Do you want to know why? Because you would have been there for her and things would have been so much different. But instead, it was me who was there for her every single day. You didn’t have to listen to her cry every night, staring at one of the few pictures she has of you. You didn’t have to overhear her talking to Aunt Jemma, telling her how she wishes you could have seen me grow up. You didn’t have to comfort her every time somebody did something that reminded her of you. You didn’t have to see the look on her face when someone called you a no-good, dirty liar and traitor. Even when I was younger and had no idea what was going on, I was still there for her.”

Ward looks taken aback by this new revelation. “I never knew,” he says quietly.

“Of course you didn’t. ‘Cause you’ve been in prison this whole time. You know, maybe if you had turned yourself in earlier, before World War III broke out, maybe, just maybe, you and mom could have been together. Together and happy.”

“If things had happened that way, you might not even be here right now. Your mom and I shared our first kiss because she thought we were going to die when World War III first broke out. If I had told everyone earlier, that might never have happened. You might not be here if things had happened like that.”

“I don’t care if I wouldn’t be here!” Lucas exclaims. “Don’t you get it?! I don’t care if I wouldn’t exist right now. Because you and mom would have had at least had a chance! I could have waited! But you insisted on staying loyal to someone who manipulated you and turned you into a cold-blooded killer!”

“I never said it was easy, Lucas,” Ward says through his teeth. “I never said that _any_ of it was easy. One of the hardest things I ever had to do was watch your mom walk away with you in her arms.”

Lucas’ face softens slightly, “Really?”

“I held you for not even five minutes before you were taken away from me. But she was only doing what was best for you. She didn’t want you around someone like me at such a young age.”

“Well I’m older now. And I think I can handle being around you.”

“Why do you think you’re here? Your mom obviously trusts you enough to be alone with me. I know she doesn’t trust me. She wouldn’t put you in here unless you could defend yourself.”

“Aunt Mel _has_ been teaching me some defensive moves.”

“Aunt Mel? As in Melinda May?”

“Yeah. She’s sort of retired now, but she still shows up to the Academy from time to time to help assess the cadets over at Operations Academy.”

“Are you…”

“At Operations? No. I took after mom, computers are more my speed; I’m going to be going to Communications in the Fall. But mom didn’t want me to be completely defenseless like she was for so long. So she thought it best if Aunt Mel trained me a bit. Showed me a few basic moves.”

“That’s great. And how is everyone else?”

“Mom heads up the Communications department for all agents. The Director of the Communications Academy answers to mom. She also oversees development for a lot of the new tech that’s used by field agents. She doesn’t go out into the field as much, but every once in a while she will.”

“She has a lot more responsibility now,” Ward says. “When we met, she was just a hacker living day to day out of a beat up old van.”

“She still has that van,” Lucas tells him. “She doesn’t really drive it much, but it sits in our garage at home.”

“She always did love that van,” Ward smiles slightly. “What about FitzSimmons? What are they doing now?”

“Well, Aunt Jemma and Uncle Leo got married when I was eight. I was the ring bearer. I hated wearing that tux.”

“I’ve never really like suits either,” Ward tells his son.

“There’s one thing I get from you,” Lucas replies.

“Yeah. And that’s really great for them,” Ward smiles again. “I take it Fitz is…better now?”

Lucas nods. “Every once in a while he still deals with something, but he’s pretty good. Aunt Jemma is usually able to help him.”

“Good, good.”

“They also have a kid,” Lucas tells him. “About two years after they got married they had a little girl. Her name is Ana.”

“That’s really great for them.”

“And they are both teaching some classes at Sci-Tech a couple days a week. I didn’t realize how popular they were there until I visited them a couple years ago to pick up some things for mom.”

“Yeah. They’ve always been the popular ones at Sci-Tech,” he smiles at the memory of his first trip to the Sci-Tech Academy.

“They love it there. They mainly work in the lab at HQ. But they do help out on cases every once in a while.”

“That’s great.”

“Yeah. And sometimes I’m allowed to sit in and watch them help out. Sometimes I watch mom assist on cases too.”

“You’re allowed to do that? Usually if you aren’t an agent, you can’t sit in.”

“Things are a little different now. And I guess it helps if the Director of SHIELD is part of your family.” Ward gives him a look of confusion. “Uncle Phil.”

“Coulson is heading up SHIELD? For how long?”

“As long as I can remember.”

“Wow. That’s great. I know how dedicated he was to the organization. He gave his life for it, and probably still would.”

“Yeah.”

It’s quiet for a moment before Ward speaks up again, “I’m going to hate myself for asking you this but I have to know. Has your mom found anyone?”

Lucas frowns and shakes his head, “No one special. There have been a few guys, but no one really stuck around for too long. Most of them just wanted money or to climb the ranks in SHIELD. Or they ran when they saw me because they didn’t want to be with a woman who already had a kid.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I always tried to do whatever I could to keep her happy. Whenever the latest guy would walk out I’d try and cheer her up. Usually I ended up calling Aunt Jemma and she’d help me. The two of them would usually end up in mom’s room crying together. Neither of them ever told me, but I knew mom would talk about you. How much she hates you for betraying everyone and leaving her to be a single mother, but how she can’t help but still feel things for you.”

Ward takes a deep breath. “Lucas, you’re 18 years old now. I missed out on seeing you grow up, I missed out on all the important moments in your life, and I regret that more than anything. I regret not being able to be there for you when you needed me; I regret not being able to be a dad to you. You have to believe me when I say I _never_ wanted to hurt your mom the way I did.”

“Yeah, well you did,” Lucas snaps. “And inadvertently, you hurt me too. Because of everything you did, I had to grow up without a father and mom had to raise me alone. I think I’m done here. Goodbye.” Lucas stands up from the table and then makes his way out of the room, leaving his father alone to his thoughts.

For the second time in his life, Grant Ward watches as his son disappears.

**Author's Note:**

> So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below.  
> Also, if anyone is interested in having their twitter handle featured in my other story Luck of the Draw, let me know. :)
> 
> Until next time,  
> Jellybean96 out!


End file.
